Golden Eagle student-athlete traveled to Spain over the summer, won soccer tournament with her SoCal club team

University of Minnesota Crookston student athlete Riley Martin took her experience as a Golden Eagle soccer player and carried it overseas to play internationally during the summer of 2025. Martin had the "adventure of a lifetime" playing with her club team in Spain and they won the whole tournament for the Costa Blanca Cup.

Martin came from California to Minnesota in 2024 to play collegiate soccer acting mostly as a center back, which makes her instrumental defensively when on the field. Now, as a Golden Eagle sophomore majoring in marketing, Martin has played in seven games and started three matches so far during the Fall 2025 season.

Martin's love for the game started around age five and her passion for the sport has only grown over the years. Through word of mouth, Martin, who is originally from San Dimas, Calif., jumped at the chance to join the SoCal team to play in Spain over the summer. It was her first year involved with the team and Martin practiced with them every week before the trip in July 2025. She was part of two club teams and two dozen players who went to Spain.

"I thought it was a really cool experience, and it allowed me to see different types of soccer, and see how different people communicate, and push me out of my comfort zone to speak new languages," said Martin.

Following her first season as a Golden Eagle, leading up to the summer trip, Martin found an opportunity to meet new friends from a new team. Once in Spain, the team first stopped in Barcelona where they played two games against two club teams around their same age group.

After they arrived in Benidorm, a municipality in Spain, an opening ceremony was held allowing all the other teams in the tournament to come together. There were only two or three other United States teams, among several other parts of the world with players from England, Spain, Iceland, Germany, and France. In the tournament, the SoCal team played five or six games where every win meant you moved towards the championship. Martin's team had great success, winning every game except one. The SoCal team took the entire tournament in the Costa Blanca Cup.

"It was one of the coolest things I've ever done!" Martin exclaimed.

A closing ceremony was held for the winners, awarding them a trophy and medals. Due to Martin's hard work and dedication, she received the Captain position and was invited to walk out first to present the trophy to her team.

Aside from the chance to play internationally, Martin made several friends along the way while participating in activities outside of soccer. She went to Poniente Beach, Puerto de Benidorm, Barcelona Stadium, Madrid Stadium, a zoo, and even one of the biggest catholic churches, Sagrada Familia. They also went shopping, climbed through an obstacle course on the water, and visited a wishing wall called Nunca Dejes De Desear in Benidorm, where, after writing your wish on the wall, a bell would ring for you. Additionally, the team rented out a room to watch and participate in the flamenco dance.

Later, the group went to local pubs to celebrate, where their flag was hung up to represent their victory.

"Everyone there loves soccer, so if you told them you were in soccer, they thought that was the coolest thing ever," Martin shared.

Martin and the Golden Eagles soccer team have three matches left of the Fall 2025 season including the coveted Highway 75 Rivalry Rock against Minnesota State University Moorhead at home.

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